Textile Research

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Static Electricity in Textiles

J.W. Ballou
Textile Research Journal 1954 24: 146
DOI: 10.1177/004051755402400209

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146

INDUSTRIAL SECTION

Static Electricity in Textiles*

J. W. Ballou
Textile Fibers Department, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc.,
Wilmington, Delaware

Introduction will be associated with the charge itself for con-

venience. Those physical properties of the fiber or
There is no completely satisfactory understanding
fabric that influence the qualities of the charge are
of the phenomenon of static electricity in textiles, but
there is certainly enough known about its causes and surveyed in Figures 2 and 3. Figure 2 shows an
idealized comparison of some of the different situa-
effects so that a fairly consistent working theory is
tions possible when static is generated. Each of the
possible. Figure 1 shows the relations among the three cases involves what happens when two surfaces
various fiber factors, the static charge, and finally the
noticeable physical effects. This discussion will be
are pressed together and then separated, one surface
concerned primarily with those physical effects that
being common to all three situations. In A, test
surface #1 takes on eight units of plus charge, and
are objectionable from the standpoint of the wearer

of textile fabrics. The cause of these symptoms is,

of course, the electrical charge, Q. This charge usu-
ally results from pressure or rubbing contact of the
textile material against other surfaces followed by
separation. In addition to its magnitude, Q, this
charge has two other measurable qualities of im-
portance : the sign, whether plus or minus, and its
rate of decay, or how fast it is dissipated. It might
be argued that the rate of decay is more properly a
quality not of the charge itself, but of the surface on
which the charge rests, or the atmospheric con- FIG. 2. Typical situations irwolvivtg static electricity.
ditions in its vicinity. This idea is partly true and
will be expanded later, but for the time being decay

* Presented at a
meeting of The Fiber Society in New
Orleans, La., Apr. 22, 1953.

FIG. 1. Static electricity relationships. FIG. 3. Change in charge with time.

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 147

the common surface §4 eight units of minus charge. on the test surface for case C alter a certain time,

The test surface is assumed to have a small resist-
ance and capacity ’to ground, actually through the
material but indicated schematically as separate, so
that charge leakage can take place relatively rapidly.
In B, the only difference is that the test surface ~2
takes on a minus charge. However, in C, a reduced
area of contact results in only four units of minus
charge, and a large resistance and capacity to ground
results in a relatively slow leakage. The sign of
and then becomes even smaller.
These considerations apply to textiles in general.
Thus, it can be seen how fiber or fabric surface area
of contact, electrostatic series position, and electrical
conductivity are related to the electrical charge de-
veloped when textiles come in contact with or rub
against surfaces such as human skin, leather, other
textiles, metals, and other materials. The curves for
cases B and C also show how one factor can com-

the charge developed on the test surface is related to pensate for another-i.e., a fiber or fabric developing
its position in the electrostatic series, which will be a large charge but having electrical characteristics

discussed later, the magnitude of the charge de- resulting in a rapid charge decay may be the equiv-
veloped depends partly on the surface contact area,
and the rate of leakage of the charge depends, in
many cases, on the electrical properties of the ma-
terial under test.
These charge qualities and the way in which they
change with time for the three different situations
depicted here are shown in Figure 3. The only
difference between A and B is in the sign of the
charge, whereas C is different from B in that the
test surface has half the charge developed by virtue
of the smaller contact area; this charge does not
leak off as rapidly because of the larger resistance and
capacity of the test surface with respect to ground.
Note that in case B, in spite of the higher initial
charge, the charge decays to a value equal to that FIG. 4. Schematic diagram of modulator.

FIG. 5. Photograph off

modulator.

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 148
alent, after a certain elapsed time, of one developing
a small charge but having electrical characteristics
resulting in a slow charge decay.
Instruments for Measurement
Two instruments, constructed in DuPont’s Pio-
neering Research Laboratory, have proved very use-
ful in studying static charges. Perhaps the most
versatile of these is the sensitive detector copied after
that developed by Havenhill, O’Brien, and Rankin
r 1]. This device is called a &dquo;modulator,&dquo; because
it modulates the electrical field set up by a static
charge and therefore permits the use of alternating
current amplifiers. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram
of the modulator, showing that it consists of a con-
denser arranged so that the field between the con-
denser plates is interrupted by a grounded chopper
or fan blade driven by a synchronous motor. If a
charged object-for example, a piece of fabric-is
brought up to the insulated top detector plate, a
charge is induced, and a field is set up in the con-
denser. The chopper interrupts the field and thereby
sets up an alternating current in the ground lead,
FIG. 6. Using modulator to measure charge leakage.
FIG. 7. Charge leakage at 15% R.H. arcd 85° F through
f abrics made from various yarns.
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which is measured by a voltmeter. This voltmeter
reading indicates the magnitude of the charge on the
fabric and is, of course, dependent on the proximity
of the fabric to the plate. Figure 5 is a photograph
of the device. The detector plate is visible, whereas
the condenser and chopper are in the box. If, for
example, a negatively charged object is brought near
the plate and the plate is grounded momentarily, the
plate will be charged positively. This charge will
remain for a long time because the plate is well
insulated. This positive bound charge, of course, re-
sults in a meter reading when the negatively charged
object is removed.
If a positively charged object is then brought near
the plate, the meter reading will increase; on the
other hand, bringing a negatively charged object near
the plate will result in a decrease in meter reading.
Thus, the instrument permits measuring sign as well
as magnitude.
Tomeasure charge decay, the modulator is used
with an amplifier and recorder, as shown in Figure 6.
This arrangement records the decay with time or loss
of a charge placed on the insulated upper plate of
the modulator by virtue of its leaking through a
fabric to a grounded weight. Examples of the rate
of leakage to ground characteristic of various fabrics
are shown in Figure 7. The same potential was put
on the modulator plate in every case, so that the
curves all start at the same voltage reading.
These fabrics were all about 7 mils in thickness,
with the exception of the wool fabric which was 18
mils thick. However, differences in thickness are
not too important in this test, since the rate of decay
depends on the product of the resistance and capacity
of the condenser formed by the charged modulator
plate and the upper grounded plate. An increase of
fabric thickness will increase the resistance but de-
FIG. 8. Static electricity tester for yarns.

crease the capacity, so that the product remains a
constant. This was checked experimentally by com-
paring the rate of leakage of three layers of fabric
made from Dacron polyester fiber with that of one
layer. No difference was found. The longer time
for static charge to leak to ground through the
fabrics made from hydrophobic fibers is graphically
shown.
While the modulator just described is useful for
measuring the magnitude, sign, and decay rate of
static charges on fabrics, it is not particularly suit-
able for use with yarns. A device designed specifi-
cally to measure the static electrical properties of
short lengths of experimental yarn is shown sche-
matically in Figure 8. The sample is in the form
of a closed loop of 400-500-den. yarn, 1.5 m. long.
It is driven under a constant tension of about 0.25 g./
den. over a standard surface. After passing over this
surface, the yarn goes over an opening in a shielded
can containing a modulated detector, which is simi-
lar in principle to the one just described and which
&dquo;sees&dquo; a short section of the yarn through the open-
ing. In practice, an aluminum test surface is used,
because it gives results in accord with subjective
static ratings and differentiates well between yarns.
The yarn is moved in short spurts in between read-
ings ; the readings are taken with the yarn at rest.
The device is calibrated by replacing the yarn with a
section of insulated copper wire, and applying a
known potential. Since temperature and humidity
have a large effect, the device is enclosed in an auto-
matically controlled humidity chamber.
FIG. 9. Initial charge build-up of ’various fibers.
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149
Figure 9 shows how various continuous-filament
yarns compare in initial charge build-up at various
relative humidities. The yarns, all between 400 and
500 den., were dry-cleaned, scoured, and then rinsed
in changes of warm distilled water until the con-
ductivity of the rinse water remained constant. The
voltages developed represent the maximum readings
Lefore charge decay had a chance to set in.
At low humidities the voltage limit of the detector
was exceeded in testing Dacron * polyester yarn,
Orlon * acrylic yarn, and nylon. The relative
voltages developed conform pretty much to what
might be expected on the basis of subjective ob-
servations of these fibers in use, with the hydrophobic
fibers developing the highest voltages.
To estimate charge decay rate with the apparatus
used to obtain the voltage data shown in Figure 9,
it is only necessary to note the time it takes for the
voltage to drop to half its initial value. Figure 10
gives values of these times in seconds for the same
well-cleaned yarns. The symbol cc is used merely to
indicate that there was no perceptible charge decay
in several minutes. These yarn data are consistent
with those given earlier for fabrics made from the
same yarns.
Figure 10 also shows that the leakage rate for
charge on the four fibers with the highest voltages
is negligible below 60% R.H., so that the steady de-
crease of voltage developed with increasing humidity
for acetate yarn, for example, cannot be ascribed to
increased leakage. It is noteworthy, also, that tests
have shown that yarns slightly contaminated with,
for example, oil may show an increase in voltage de-
veloped with increasing humidity, at least up to 60%
R.H. These observations point to some effect of
surface water other than increased electrical conduc-
tivity.
* DuPont trademarks.
FIG. 10. Comparison of half-life of f charge in seconds.
150

The Electrostatic Series
In any electrostatic work the sign of the charge is
of particular interest. It has been known for over
two centuries that some charged materials are plus
and some minus, after being rubbed or pressed
against a common surface and separated. It has
also been known that the sign depends on what
the common surface is. An elementary way of
looking at this is to say that some materials ac-
quire a positive charge by loss of electrons because
free electrons tend to leave these materials more
readily than they do another surface, and a net
loss results. Conversely, these same materials can
acquire a negative charge if the other surface loses
electrons more readily. It is important to realize
that the process of electrification depends on get-
ting good physical contact between the surfaces and,
indeed, it has been proven experimentally that the
charge developed is directly proportional to the
area of contact. Friction or rubbing acts to promote
this good contact so that the charge transfer can
take place.
To investigate the sign of the charge developed in
textile materials rubbed against various surfaces, in-
cluding other textiles, yarn samples were boiled off,
rinsed, and wound on plastic plates about 2 in.
square. The samples were then rubbed together or
against other surfaces so that the direction of motion
was always parallel to the yarn axis. In every case,
the samples were initially discharged with an ionizing
source such as an Ionotron static eliminator.
The procedure for determining sign can be il-
lustrated bound
by an example. First, a charge of
known sign-for this example, positive-is placed
on the modulator detector plate so that a meter
member of the series is positive to those below it and
negative to those above it. Such an electrostatic
series at 15 % R.H. is shown in Figure 11. It must
be emphasized that many such series have been set
up by various investigators, and that, at best, agree-
ment is only approximate, because of differences in
the manner of preparing the surfaces and other fac-
tors.
One noteworthy feature of this series is the chemi-
cal grouping of the fibers. At the positive end are
fibers containing amide groups-e.g., wool, nylon,
and silk. At the negative end are the hydrocarbons
and halogenated hydrocarbons-e.g., polyethylene
and Saran-with the hydroxy-rich polymers in be-
tween. It must be emphasized here that this series,
as it was set up experimentally, ranks these yarns
only as to sign; it is qualitative, and does not permit
any comparisons of the magnitude of the charge.
As noted, this series holds at 15% R.H. A simi-
lar series of the same fibers at 60% R.H. is very
little different from this, the only major change being
a shift in the position of Fiberglas,* which moves up
to a position between wool and nylon. Another
interesting effect noted with glass is that a fire-
polished glass rod rubbed with silk is charged posi-
tively, but if the surface of the rod is roughened with
emery paper, then the rough surface takes on a nega-
tive charge when rubbed with silk; indeed, it is
negative even to Orlon acrylic yarn. Undoubtedly
different active chemical groups are uncovered by the
abrasion in this case.
No discussion of the electrostatic series would be
complete without some mention of the early work of
*
Owens-Corning trademark.

reading results. Then, if wound samples of nylon

and cotton are rubbed together, separated, and
brought in turn close to the charged plate, it is noted
that the meter reading increases when the nylon is
brought up and decreases when the cotton is brought
up. This indicates that the nylon has a positive
charge and the cotton a negative one. In this way,
every possible contact combination of a group of
yarns can be tested and a table prepared showing the
results. Finally, this table can be consolidated into
a consistent series called an &dquo;electrostatic&dquo; or &dquo;tri-

boelectric&dquo; series, in which the yarns range from the

one that is positive to all others in the group, down
to the one that is negative to all the others, with the
FIG. 11. Electrostatic series at ISa/o R.H. (*Owens-
rest of the yarns arranged in between such that any
Corning trade mark; + DuPont trademark).

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Coehn and Richards (discussed in [2], p.
These workers found that when liquids and solids
are charged by contact with other solids, the ma-
terial having the highest dielectric constant carries
the greatest positive charge. This connection with
dielectric constant is important because it ties in with
certain observations which might otherwise seem
anomalous and which seem more reasonable when it
is realized that solids such as different textile ma-
terials and plastic films do not each have one unique
dielectric constant. Instead, these may exhibit a
range of dielectric constants depending on the amount
of crystallinity and structural orientation present. If
this were not the case, for example, polyethylene
would never be expected to develop any charge when
rubbed on polyethylene, and nylon would always be
neutral to nylon. This is not always the case, and
where charge is developed between like chemical
structures, it can probably be related in every case,
as Graham [2] pointed out, to differences in physical
structure and therefore dielectric constant. For ex-
ample, charge can be developed by rubbing together,
along their axes, polymeric yarns of different draw
ratio and, therefore, different structural orientations.
Perhaps even more interesting, it is possible to
develop small charges in some cases by rubbing two
samples of the same yarn together in such a way
that their axes are crossed. Figure 12 diagrams this
for nylon. In nylon it is observed that when the
fibers are rubbed as shown-that is, the horizontal
fiber rubbed along the axis of the vertical fiber-the
vertical fibers takes on a small positive charge and
the’ horizontal ones a small negative charge. This
anisotropy is undoubtedly due to the different di-
electric constants in the axial and transverse direc-
tions, but the fine details of the mechanism are not
clear; the signs of the charges developed are affected
FIG. 12. Electrostatic anisotropy in nylon.
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151
32). by relative humidity, and some yarns show a re-
versal of sign compared to nylon. This ~anisotropy
has been found in a great many yarns. It was not
found in those cases where no very appreciable
charge was ever developed anyway.
From an examination of the electrostatic series,
the question naturally arises : How do blends of two
fibers in this series behave as far as static is con-
cerned ? An example is the effect of blending Dacron
polyester staple and nylon staple. In the elec-
trostatic series shown in Figure 11, nylon is near
the extreme positive end and Dacron is lower down
in the series towards the negative end. If these
fibers are rubbed individually-for example, against
a chrome-plated metallic surface-the nylon develops
a positive charge and the Dacron a negative one. In
a staple blend of these two fibers this would still be
true, as shown diagrammatically in Figure 13, which
depicts the surface of an idealized blended yarn.
Both signs of charge would exist simultaneously in
close proximity, positive on the nylon and negative
on the Dacron. In general, there would be a net
positive negative charge, and there would be very
or
little tendency for the different charges to run to-
gether and neutralize each other since the fiber sur-
faces, in this particular case, are pretty effective
nonconductors. However, a short distance away,
the fields set up by these charges would tend to cancel
each other-i.e., the repulsive force experienced by a
positively charged dust particle, due to one unit of
positive charge on the nylon, would be cancelled
FIG. 13. Static charges on surface of f blended yarn.
152

by the equal and opposite attractive force due to one in various proportions, carded, and spun into yarn.
unit of negative charge on the Dacron. The relative As the proportions approached equal amounts of each
amounts of each sign of charge would, in a blend fiber, it was noticed that the static developed in

such as this, be controlled by the relative proportions processing, which was very noticeable with both
of the two components and their relative chargea- 100% nylon and 100/o Dacron, disappeared almost
bility. It was predicted that an absolutely neutral completely, an indication that the prediction was
blend could be made in which just as many positive being fulfilled. Seven different compositions of spun
charges as negative charges are formed when the yarns were thus obtained and tested for sign and
blend is rubbed against a third surface, providing the magnitude of charge developed when rubbed over a
third surface has a position in the electrostatic series chrome-plated metallic surface. The results are
between the two components of the blend. Nylon, shown in Figure 14, where charge, in arbitrary units,
Dacron polyester staple, and a chrome-plated surface developed under the conditions of the test is plotted
satisfy these requirements ; therefore, a test was made against blend composition. As the percentage of
to determine whether a zero net charge, neutral to nylon is increased, the charge goes from minus to
the plated surface, could be found. plus, with a small composition range being essentially
Nylon and Dacron staple were blended in a picker neutral to the chrome plate. Somewhere between
40% and 50% nylon content there is no net charge.
Even though there are a large number of positive and
negative charges, the blend is essentially static-free.
In the electrostatic series, cotton also has a posi-
tion in between nylon and Dacron. This means that
some blend composition of nylon and Dacron should
be neutral to cotton also. Figure 15 shows the results
of rubbing these same yarn blends against cotton,
and it is seen that a somewhat higher percentage of
nylon is required for neutrality-viz., around 75%,
compared with 40%-50% for the chrome-plated sur-
face. This higher percentage is perhaps expected
since cotton is nearer nylon in the series. The dif-

FIG. 14. Blends of nylon-Dacron polyester staple-

charge developed against chrome-plated surface.

FIG. 16. Knit fabrics made from blends of nylon-

FIG. 15. Blendsof nylon-Dacron polyester staple- Dacron polyester staple-charge developed against
charge developed against cotton. chrome-plated surface.

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ferent compositions required for neutrality with the
two different surfaces points up one of the draw-
backs to blending for static reduction-the optimum
composition varies from surface to surface.
These blends of nylon and Dacron polyester staple
were made into knit fabrics that were tested simi-
larly. Figure 16 shows that these knit fabrics be-
haved as the yarns did against a chrome-plated sur-
face, with neutrality again requiring 40% to 50%
nylon. Since wool is above nylon in the series, none
of these compositions would be expected to be neutral
to wool. Indeed, it was found that they were all
negative to wool, as shown in Figure 17. To con-
firm the generality of this method of reducing static,
a series of blends of nylon and Orlon acrylic staple
were made and tested against various surfaces for
sign and magnitude of charge developed. The re-
sults, in Figure 18, show that these blends behave
similarly to the blends of nylon and Dacron, with the
neutral composition only slightly different. Blends
of nylon and Dacron and of nylon and Orlon con-
taining about 3 nylon exhibit little static when rubbed
against cotton.
In blends of wool and Dacron, the neutral
position, againstthe standard chrome-plated surface,
contained 15% wool, as compared with about 50%
nylon. This is what might be expected since wool is
higher in the electrostatic series than nylon.
From this collection of data, it is possible to con-
clude that staple blending based on the electrostatic
series is one way of reducing static in certain cases,
but that the method is very limited because optimum
compositions vary with the specific rubbing surface.
However, since many common surfaces have posi-
tions in between the positions of fibers ordinarily
FIG. 17. Knit fa.brics vnade from blends of nylon-Dacron
polyester staple-charge developed against wool.
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153
no doubt some general improvement in static
used,
behavior would result. The most satisfactory blend
is, of course, the one in which the fibers are mixed as
intimately as possible, such as occurs in staple blends.
Yarn blends, made by plying two different yarns, or
weave blends, made by using one yarn as a filling
and one as a warp, would be much less satisfactory.
The distance away from the fabric at which electro-
static forces cancel out increases as the distance
between the unlike charges increases.
Fabric Electrical
Conductivity
Charge decay by conduction through a fabric to a
grounded surface is quite marked in the case of hy-
drophilic fibers because of their lower electrical re-
sistance. In practice, this lower electrical resistance
helps in the static,reduction, even if no good ground
in the electrical sense of a buried metal plate is avail-
able. A floor acts as a fairly good ground because of
its capacity to absorb charge, while the human skin
acts as a fairly good surface conductor to conduct
charges to the floor through the soles of the shoes.
through a fabric can be derived
Electrical resistance
com-
from thecharge leakage curves shown previously by
comparing the leakage through the fabric to ground
with that produced by a standard one-million megohm
resistor placed across the electrodes with the fabric
in place. The resistance values so obtained naturally
reflect the area of fabric used in the test, as well as
the thickness of the fabric. In this work, a 1 in.
square piece of fabric was used, and the results were
reduced to megohms resistance per mil of fabric
thickness. The resistances at various relative hu-
FIG. 18. Blends of n3,lon-Orlon acrylic staple.
 154
FIG. 19. Resistances of plain-weave fabrics.
midities for some typical plain-weave fabrics are given
in Figure 19. Here it is shown that the electrical
resistance through fabrics made from hydrophobic
fibers is uniformly high compared to that through
fabrics made from hydrophilic fibers. For treated
fabrics with much lower resistances, it is found con-
venient to measure the electrical resistance along the
fabric surface with a megohm bridge. In this case,
a probe, consisting of insulated electrodes spaced
.01 in. apart, is placed on the fabric under a given
weight, and the resistance between the electrodes is
measured. In general, good correlation was found
between resistance through fabrics and surface re-
sistance, as might be expected.
Physical Effects of Static Charge
There are two possible explanations why dust or
lint particles, which are assumed to be insulators,
are attracted to a charged fabric. The dust particles
may be charged themselves-some positive and some
negative-so that when they approach a charged
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FIG. 20. Electrostatic forces in clinging.
fabric, the oppositely charged particles are attracted,
obeying a fundamental law of electrostatics. If the
particles are not charged, it is possible that electric
dipoles are set up by the field from the charged fabric.
These electric dipoles occur when the electrons bound
to the atoms of the particle are slightly displaced by
the force of the field, giving rise to an effective
accumulation of opposite charge nearest to the fabric,
with a resultant attractive force.
The clinging of fabrics to the skin involves some
interesting concepts, which are explained by refer-
ence to Figure 20. Here is shown a fabric attracted
to a grounded conductor, which could be the skin
of the leg. Assuming that the fabric has momen-
tarily rubbed against the leg and then become sep-
arated, so that it is charged on its lower portion, the
situation is essentially equivalent to an electrical
condenser. The field strength between the fabric
and the conductor has a value of 4~rS, where S is
the charge surface density. The force of attraction
is obtained by multiplying the field strength by the
charge density, which yields F = 4-rS2 as the cling-
ing force. If the fabric surface conductivity is such
that the charge can diffuse over the fabric surface
in a short time, the result is a lower charge density.
If, as shown in the lower part of the figure, the
charge density is decreased to 2, then the attractive
force is reduced to 1 by virtue of the squared de-
pendence on S. Thus, it is possible for a charge to
redistribute to a nontroublesome concentration, and
clinging may disappear even though the total charge,

as indicated on a modulator, may remain constant.
This effect has been noticed experimentally, and was
a source of bewilderment until this possibility was
realized. It is important to realize that, because of
the nonlinear relation between force and charge den-
sity, clinging is not necessarily a good indicator of
static development, although its practical significance
cannot, of course, be discounted.
In addition to charge dissipation from a fabric
being explained wholly in terms of its being redis-
tributed or conducted to ground by the fabric surface,
a fabric can also be discharged in other ways. For
example, an ionic atmosphere produced by a radio-
active source or even a flame can discharge a fabric
by neutralizing the charges on its surface. A brush
discharge is frequently observed when a highly
charged ungrounded fabric is brought near the vicin-
ity of a conductor. The individual fibers bristle
stiffly and sparks fly. The reason this occurs is that
a large concentration of charge always tends to col-
lect on a sharp point, such as the end of a fiber;
the resulting electrical field may be high enough so
that the dielectric breakdown strength of the air will
be exceeded and charges will be ej ected from the fiber
ends. If the fiber surface is a reasonably good con-
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155
ductor, the charges will be replenished by a flow
along the fiber and will be lost quickly.
charge
Thus, to summarize, there are several mechanisms
by which charge density can be altered: the charges
can be conducted to ground, they can diffuse over a
surface and redistribute themselves, they can be
neutralized by other charges, and, lastly, they can
be lost by electrical discharge. Each one of these
mechanisms has been observed with textiles in the
laboratory. All undoubtedly play a role in actual
wear, depending on circumstances.
Acknowledgment
All the experimental work covered in this paper
was done by Mr. D. T. Meloon and Mr. J. A.
Roetling. Dr. J. C. Smith contributed some of the
ideas on the physical effects of static charge.
Literature Cited
1. Havenhill, R. S., O’Brien, H. C., and Rankin, J. J.,
Electrostatic Properties of Rubber and GR-S,
J. Applied Phys. 15, 731-40 (1944).
2. Graham, G. W., in the "Book of Papers for the Third
Canadian Textile Seminar," The Textile Tech-
nical Federation of Canada, Montreal, Quebec,
1952, p. 32 ff.
October
(Manuscript received 8, 1953.)